You can finally get a haircut again in NC. What to expect at salons and barbershops.
People in North Carolina can finally head back to hair salons and barber shops starting Friday evening for fresh cuts and to touch up their roots that have been neglected for months.
But while the state has allowed reopening, it also set restrictions that will make getting your hair cut a much different experience than before the coronavirus pandemic.
Customers will be offered hand sanitizer and face masks instead of a glass of champagne or hot tea. And there will be no sifting through magazines while waiting in the front of the salon.
But you can still spill your secrets and gossip with your stylist as they fix your at-home hack jobs and repair the damage from those drugstore dye kits.
What are the new rules?
The North Carolina Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners released a guide to reopening for shops during Phase Two that’s based on Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive order.
Shops will be able to operate at 50% capacity and must limit the number of people in the store so that clients can stay six feet apart. Businesses also are required to post signs about the new distancing and safety rules. There will be markings on the floors of waiting areas and around the checkout space so that customers stay separated. Some salons are asking people to wait in their cars or outside until their appointment.
Employees will be screened for symptoms everyday before coming into work, and customers who have had a fever or cough will be asked not to come inside.
Stylists and barbers will be wearing face coverings, and some salons are requiring customers to wear face masks during their entire service, including the shampoo, cut and blow-dry.
It’ll also take a bit longer between appointments because all equipment and furniture that touches a customer must be completely cleaned and disinfected. That includes chairs, capes and shampoo areas.
Changes to hair appointments
Michelle Ghassemi, owner of Meraki Salon in Raleigh, said it’s a quick turnaround to open back up in a matter of days, but she and her stylists are ready. Their clients are clearly ready too, based on the flurry of calls and emails to book appointments this weekend and over the next few weeks that came in as soon as Phase Two was announced Wednesday.
“We’re just super excited, and things will be different,” Ghassemi said. “We just ask for everyone’s patience and flexibility, even with our team, as we kind of tiptoe back into this routine.”
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Ghassemi has stocked the salon with all the color treatments, retail items and personal protective equipment like gloves, face masks, safety goggles, Barbicide disinfecting solution, UV sanitizers and fresh capes for guests.
They’re opening with a limited staff, split schedules and no double-bookings to limit the amount of people in the salon and reduce the risks.
Ghassemi also marked the floors of her salon, reconfigured the reception area and put up signs asking customers to wear a face mask and keep their distance. She will have a sanitation table set up outside. Stylists have also been coming into the shop in shifts to bring their tools back and clean their stations.
“Our industry as a whole, especially locally, is still nervous and uncertain because we are in such close proximity to that person in the chair,” Ghassemi said. “We can only do and control as much as we can. I like to temper fear with solutions and with data, while still being empathetic.”
She said each member of their team has gotten a certification in COVID-19 sanitation and infection controls. Each employee knows exactly why each measure in this salon is being taken. Ghassemi said that will help calm people’s fears as stylists and clients return.
Each customer will also have to complete a symptom check to confirm their appointment and sign a digital waiver that helps them understand there’s still a risk with this service.
The stylists have missed doing hair and they’re eager to get back into the salon and see their clients, but they’re still nervous, Ghassemi said. Some of the stylists are high-risk and pregnant and they want people to be honest about their health and respect the protocols.
“We all as an industry have been hurt and set back by this,” Ghassemi said. “We just want to move forward in a way that’s productive and beneficial with grace, with empathy and support.”
Dustin Patrick Smith, co-owner of Marigold Parlour in Raleigh, has replaced furniture that can’t be sanitized, moved the styling chairs six feet apart and will also ask customers to wait in their cars and wear a face mask.
He has masks for people that show up without one and will be offering clients hand sanitizer instead of drinks and magazines before their appointment.
Smith said they’re assuming everything that touches a client has been contaminated, and they will be thoroughly cleaning every chair and using new capes for each client. These measures are for the safety of guests and stylists, he said.
“Some people don’t feel comfortable working at all,” Smith said. “Other stylists are ready to come in the minute that the salon is open.”
Marigold Parlour will be taking a staggered approach to reopening. One or two stylists will be in the salon on Saturday, a few more will start next week, and the rest will come back in June.
Some shops, including Man-Mur barbershop in Raleigh, are waiting to open until after the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Others will have to wait until June.
Kellie Gates, a hair stylist with Hot Headz in Durham, said she’ll return to work in June because her shop is following the city’s order, which is more restrictive than the state’s new rules.
DIY fixes at the barbershop
Jesse Padilla, owner of The Right Cut barbershop in Cary, will have his doors open bright and early at 7 a.m. Saturday.
He’s been preparing his shop with some DIY solutions to adjust to the new rules. He hung up shower curtains as separators between each booth to give each client their own space and make them feel comfortable and protected.
Barbers will be wearing masks and gloves, and they’ll have hand sanitizer and Lysol on hand to clean the chairs between clients.
Padilla also hired a cleaning crew to sanitize the shop and said he has spent at least $1,500 to get things ready to re-open. But he said it’s worth it and he’ll do whatever that state regulations say in order to open his doors.
Padilla will be taking walk-in clients, but they’ll have to call to make an appointment outside the door, which will remain locked. No one will be allowed to wait inside, and before any customers can get a shape up, they will get their temperature taken.
“It will definitely affect business,” Padilla said. “But we want to prove that we’re capable, ... we’re essential and that we can handle whatever is thrown our way.”
Barber Alex Walton also hung shower curtains between chairs in the Before & After Barbershop to prepare to reopen at 5 p.m. on Friday evening.
“It’s inexpensive and it gets the job done,” Walton said. “We’re COVID-19 ready.”
Walton said he expects a lot of customers to come through the shop, which will be open until about 10 p.m. on Friday. He’s spent the last three days getting the shop ready to open the minute it’s allowed.
In addition to hanging the shower curtains, Walton cleaned the shop and made sure there’s six feet of space between work stations. He said sanitation is second nature to barbers and they’ll continue to thoroughly wash their hands, spray chairs with disinfectant and clean their tools between each customer.
He’s also asking customers to call their barbers directly to set up appointments and walk-ins will have to wait outside or in their cars.
“I’m anxious to get back to work to make money to feed my family,” Walton said. “But I‘m also aware the potential to get the virus is very serious. You have to be safe.”
Even while taking the necessary precautions, Walton said he’s nervous it may still be too early to open. It’s a risk for barbers and customers, particularly because of the close contact during a hair cut.
“It’s a difficult decision if you’re going to get a hair cut or not,” Walton said. “That’s a decision that each person has to make on their own.”
This story was originally published May 22, 2020 at 11:11 AM.
